Dealing
by Livin4Jesus
Summary: Not all missions end on a happy note. Sometimes things happen that not even the Avengers can prevent or fix. After missions such as these, the team can do nothing but go home and deal with it and they each do so in their own ways, but what Tony does is something that no one, not even his teammates, would have expected. No Slash. One-Shot.


**A/N Another long ago written and forgotten about one-shot saved from stagnation in my documents folder. :P **

**BTW, for anyone following my story _Steven Anthony Stark, _the next chapter will be up tomorrow afternoon. **

**The song that inspired this and that is described being played in this story is called _Marsden's Lament_. It is from the TV show _Warehouse 13_ Season 1 Episode 2: _Resonance_. If you would like to listen to the song, it is on youtube, just search "Warehouse 13 resonance song." It is a beautiful piece of music.**

**Dealing**

Sometimes missions don't go the way they want them to. It doesn't happen often, but it does happen. People get hurt. People die. The Avengers are capable of great things but not even they can save everyone. They can, however, feel the loss and guilt of every tragedy. Those are feelings that they have to deal with, and they do so in their own ways.

Steve draws. Once the team returns to the tower, Steve heads to his room where he draws anything and everything that comes to his mind, until the raging emotions within him calm and he can see the bright side of things again.

Thor eats. The Norse warrior will grab whatever food he sees first and begin to wolf it down. He eats until there is almost no food left in the tower and his stomach aches. After this, he usually feels better (at least emotionally).

Natasha beats the living daylights out of gym equipment. She goes to the gym and proceeds to beat and pummel whatever she can get her hands or feet on. This continues until her anger and rage has dissipated and she is once again calm and collected.

Clint shoots stuff. The archer takes his bow and shoots pretty much anything that isn't valuable. Once he runs out of arrows, he retrieves those he has already shot and starts over. He doesn't stop until he finally convinces himself that it was a tragedy, but not his fault.

Bruce meditates. He sits in his room and calms his breathing, keeping the Hulk inside as his anger threatens to overcome him. He reflects on the events that transpired and on his emotions, until he feels real calm, instead of the artificial control he has forced upon himself.

Tony, however, does something most people wouldn't expect from him. He doesn't drink or do anything stupid, he doesn't lock himself in his lab, or shut out the world as he works on some project for the foreseeable future.

After a mission gone bad, Tony plays the piano. He sits at the grand piano in the living room, closes his eyes, and just lets go, allowing his emotions to control his fingers. He plays whatever feels right, whether it be a fast-paced angry tune or a sad lament. He allows his emotions to run free within him, releasing them through his fingers in song. Once he feels his raging feelings slip away and peace settle in his heart, he opens his eyes, takes a deep breath, and rises from the piano, leaving his pain in the notes.

Each team member knew the others had their own ways of dealing but none of them really knew what each others' methods were. It wasn't until one day, after another mission ending badly, that the team discovered what it was Tony did, and in doing so, found a better way for them all to come to terms with things.

Steve exited his room after about an hour of drawing and literally ran into Clint as the archer walked past, having finished his shooting spree a few minutes before.

"Oh, sorry Clint," Steve said after colliding with the archer.

"No harm done," Clint replied, waving it off. "I was just on my way to the kitchen to see if I can find something to eat. You hungry?"

"Yeah, a little."

The two of them began walking toward the kitchen, nearly bumping into Natasha and Bruce as they all rounded the same corner. They all pulled up just short of collision.

"Hey guys, where you going?" Bruce asked.

"We were just going to get a bite to eat. Want to come with?" Clint asked.

Natasha and Bruce nodded and together the four of them made their way to the kitchen, running (only figuratively this time) into Thor along the way. The blond warrior wasn't hungry, having eaten more than enough already, but decided to join the others for company. They were almost to the kitchen when Clint stopped suddenly, almost getting run over by his teammates.

"Clint, what-" Natasha began but was cut off.

"Shh, you hear that?" Clint asked, holding up a hand and tilting his head slightly.

The others grew quiet, listening intently.

"It sounds like piano music," Bruce said after a moment.

"Yeah," Steve said. "Where's it coming from?"

"The living room, I think," Clint replied.

They all began walking toward the living room their search for food forgotten as they sought to solve this newest mystery. As they grew closer to the living room, the music became clearer. The song was a slow, sad, almost haunting melody that pulled them all in and drove them to silence. They reached the living room and entered to see a sight they had not been expecting. There, sitting at the piano, was Tony, his eyes closed and completely lost in his own world as his fingers moved smoothly across the keys. What really stopped the other five in their tracks, though, was Tony's face.

The arrogant, snarky facade that Tony always wore was absent, and all of Tony's emotions were written plainly on his face. For the first time, the team got a complete, unmasked view of the real Tony. As one, almost as if they were hypnotized, they all moved into the room, slowly and silently as if the slightest sound might break the spell. They each found seats and sat quietly watching Tony and losing themselves in the music.

After a few minutes, the song came to an end and they all sat, unmoving as the notes faded from their ears but not from their hearts. They all felt more at peace after listening to Tony play that one song, than they did after hours of drawing, eating, punching, shooting, or meditating.

A moment later, Tony took a deep breath and opened his eyes. He was clearly surprised to see them all there, having not heard them enter, and he seemed a bit embarrassed. They could all see Tony's mask begin to slide into place again out of habit and self-defense, but then Tony took one look at the faces watching him, seeing the open emotions and acceptance staring back at him, and he visibly relaxed and allowed the mask to slip away again. He could trust his team to see the real him. He could trust his team with his heart and soul, just as they could trust him with theirs.

After that, every time there was a bad day, the team would gather in the living room and listen to Tony's playing, allowing their emotions to be shared with each other. Because a burden wasn't quite so heavy when they let their friends help carry it.

* * *

**I was listening to Marsden's Lament and the image of Tony playing it on the piano just came to me and the rest of the story kind of grew from that. I could just picture him playing that song after a rough day. Anyway, let me know what you thought. :)**


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